Combined elevating and fruit-cleaning machine.



A. J. NYE. COMBINED ELEVATING AND FRUIT CLEANING MACHINE I I APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1910. 997,0 1 V l Patented July 4, 191

A 2 snznws smm 1 5 ATTORNEYS A. J. NYE. COMBINED ELEVATING AND FRUIT CLEANING MACHINE APYLIQATION FILED MAR. 22, 1910.

997,081. Patented July 4, 1911.

4 2SHEETSSHEET 2. W 6 1 1/4 1 r I i f :7! J iii, 1 iii '1 1 q ATTORNEYS ALVIN J. NYE, gl'l PETERSIBURG, FLORIDA.

COMBINED ELEVATING inn FRUIT-CLEANING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4;, 1911.

Application filed March 22, 1910. Serial No. 550,822.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN J. NYE, a citi-v zen of the United States, and a resident of- St. Petersburg, in the county of I-Iillsboro and State of Florida, have made certain new,

and useful Improvements in Combined Elevating and Fruit-Cleaning, Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to devices for cleaning fruit and for raising or elevating it, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a device by which fruit such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, etc, may be thoroughly cleaned from scale, dirt or other impurities while being elevated from a lower to a higher floor.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device in which the fruit is held positively in position while being cleaned by a series of spring actuated brushes which conform to the contour of the fruit.

A further object of my invention is to provide means whereby fruit of the smallest size may be as effectively cleaned as the larger fruit, said means being arranged so as to be adjusted to accommodate fruits of various sizes.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accom panying drawings forming apart of this ap plication in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing one embodiment of my invention, certain portions being broken away for the sake of clearness. Fig. 2 is adetail sideview showing some of the spring brushes. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the brushes shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of the chain showing its attachment to a, brush. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a section along the line 66 of Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 is a section along the line 7-7 of Fig. l.

In carrying out my invention I provide a triangular frame consisting of the sides 1 and 2, and the bottom 3, see Fig. 7. The

lower end of this framework rests upon the cross membe 1, while the upper end rests upon thenprights a, see Fig. 1. The.sides 1 and 2 are inclined as shown in Fig. 7. To

the side 1 is hinged a member 6, 6 and 6*, while to the side 2 is hinged a similar member 7. Attached to the members 6 and 7 are a series of brushes 8, these brushes being secured on the springs 9 so as to be normally in alinement.

At the top of the frame member 5 is a sprocket wheel 10, While at the lower end of the triangular frame is a reservoir 11 in which is mounted a larger sprocket wheel 12. A sprocket chain 13 travels over the wheels 10 and 12. To the sprocket chain 13 are secured a continuous series of brushes 14 the arm 7 and the slotted arc-shaped member 7 arranged to be clampedto the arm 2.

The brushes which I prefer to use are each concave inform as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the bristles being of the same length and-being set in a concave base.

will be seen that the brushes more nearly fit the fruit because of this concave shape.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device the operation thereof may be readily understood.

The fruit is placed on the inclined chute 1.5 and descends by gravity to the bottom part of theelevator. Power is applied to the shaft of the wheel 12 so as to rotate it in the direction indicated by the arrow. The movementof the brushes 1 1 carries the fruit up by'friction against the spring brushes 8; The fruit is engaged by the spring brushes on either side whose pressures have been regulated by adjusting the slotted arms 6 and 7 to the required position for cleaning the particular fruit operated upon.

With the brushes in the position shown in Fig. 7, it

The resalt is that the fruit is thoroughly brushed on all sides. The fruit constantly tends to i descend by gravity but as it rests on the 7 lower brushes wh ich' are traveling upwardly it is carried forward with them even though it meets the opposition of the spring brushes and eventually is delivered from the top of the chute in a perfectly clean and polished condition. The apparatus is especially adapted for cleaning oranges, grapefruit, 10 etc., of various sizes. As soon as one orange is started upwardly between the brushes the nextorange follows, the fruit feeding automatically into the cleaning device.

The endless chain bearing the brushes de- '15'scends into the reservoir through the water v16 which cleans the brushes from any dirt or scale which may adhere to them and also supplies the necessary water for the brushing and polishing operation. I am aware 20 that various fruit cleaning machines have- 5 .beendevised in which a movable brush is moved pasta series of spring actuated brushes. In some of these devices, however, the very movement of the brushes will crowd out the fruitfrom between the brushes,but in my device there is absolutely no chance for the fruit to jump out from between the brushes when it is once in. An

inspection of Fig. 7 will show that the con- ?0 cave brushes when pressed on the fruit furnish a runway which isapproximately the contour of the fruit itself so that all parts of the fruitare brushed'effectually since in passing the fruit is turned over and I over in all directions. Moreover, while. the

--fruitis being cleaned it is beingelevated I and the very fact that the fruit tends to descend by gravity keeps it in better contact with the brushes than where the fruit is car- 40 ried downwardly.

I have found in practice that small oranges of a size scarcely larger than large marbles may be cleaned just as easily and as efiectually as oranges of a much greater size.: If

415 grape-fruit is to be cleaned the brushes 8 are moved by clamping the arms 6 and 7 at the required position. i

The members 6 and 7 may be swung backwardly as shown in Fig. 7 in dotted lines when a brush is to be replaced or for any I Vitnesses other reason thus'enabling the operator to get at any of the l rushes of the entire row.

I claim: L 1. In a combined fruit cleaning and elevating machine, an inclined frame, an endless carrier on said frame, a series of brushes secured t-o said endless carrier and forming the bottom of a run way, two rows of spring pressed. brushes forming opposed sides of the run way, and means for simultaneously moving all ofthebrushesof one of said rows toward or away from the brushes forming the bottom of the runway and the opposing row of spring pressed brushes, the movement of the brushes on said endless carrier being from the lower to frame.

2. In a combined fruit cleaning and elevating machine, an inclinedframe, sprocket wheels carried thereby, a sprocket chain arranged to run on said sprocket wheels, a

series of concavebrushes secured to said sprocket chain, side, members pivotally secured to said frame, a series of spring pressed concave brushes secured to said side members, means 'for bringing said spring brushes near said movable brushes to form a runway and means for rotating said sprocket wheels 'to cause a movement of said movable brushes up said inclined frame relatively to said spring brushes.

3. In a combined fruit cleaning and elevating machine, a reservoir, an inclined frame, a sprocket wheel mounted within said reservoir, a second sprocket wheel mounted at the upper end of said mclmed frame, a sprocket cham earned by' said sprockets, a

series of concave brushes carried by said sprocket chain, a pair of pivoted side members, a series of alined spring pressed con-- cave brushes secured to each side member, means for moving. each series of spring pressed brushes simultaneously toward or away from the movable concave brushes and means for retaining the spring controlled brushes in their adjusted positions.

ALVIN NYE.

A. w. Frsrmn, A. W. IVA'rsoN.

the upper end of the 

